Nothing Ever Lasts Forever
by Emi96
Summary: When Lucy comes back from an easy solo-mission, empty-handed and depressed, she's told that her pink-haired best friend is on a dangerous job with his partner Happy and his old childhood friend, Lisanna. Once they get slight complications, they send a letter to the guild for assistance. Lucy's the only one from her team to be left out. Are there reasons behind all that?


_**Nothing Ever Lasts Forever**_

_**Chapter One - A fucked up day**_

She was fucked.

_Boy, _was she fucked.

Lucy tightened her grip on the sheet of paper in her left hand, raising the other to her head, nervously pushing a wild chunk of hair out of her face. She kept her eyes on her feet, trying not to think about what was going to happen. Unfortunately, images of herself being kicked out of her apartment kept flashing through her mind. She didn't want that to happen.

But no money meant no home.

_Fucked. Fucked. Fucked._

When she heard the woman in front of her cough, Lucy decided to look up from under her lashes, only to meet the angry stare she had tried so hard to avoid. She opened her mouth, hoping to be able to defend herself - for all it was worth - but the woman's stern voice silenced her.

"It's the first time _ever," _Miss Cornelia scowled, pointing an accusing finger at the blonde, "that a mage manages to mess up one of my jobs."

Lucy wanted to tell her that, technically, she hadn't been the one to '_mess up one of her jobs'. _Her spirits had burned the whole thing down, but she guessed that to be irrelevant since they were, after all, _her _spirits. _Her _responsibility.

So bloody fucked.

Long story short, she needed money. Nothing new there. But after coming back from Edolas, she hadn't wanted to go on a dangerous mission with thieves, or monsters or perverted old men, so she'd decided to take an easy little job that paid well. Natsu hadn't taken it too well, given the fact that he'd said that she was no fun. Happy had even called her fat, immediately earning the little blue cat a well-deserved slap on the head. Anyway, Miss Cornelia had asked for a mage to come and help her cut some wood for the 'biggest barbecue ever'.

Lucy had immediately asked Taurus for help, but that stupid cow had managed to somehow burn down half the forest near Cornelia's house. 'The biggest barbecue ever' was an understatement. She had immediately tried to put the enormous fire out by summoning Aquarius, forgetting about her date with Scorpio, which resulted with a burned down forest and a flooded house.

No need to say that Miss Cornelia was _not_ pleased.

Lucy bowed in front of the purple-haired woman. "I'm _truly _sorry."

"You better be, young lady," She snorted, glaring at the girl, "even that idiot with pink hair did this one right."

The Celestial mage winced at the mention of her best friend, but tried not to show it. The last thing she needed was that old woman to think that she was weak. She didn't even understand why she was so afraid. She wasn't in any danger, and even if she was, she would most certainly be able to handle that old hag.

So why couldn't she say anything?

Oh, right; the money.

"You're a sad excuse for a mage," The woman spat, shaking her drenched feet, trying to get rid of all the water. "I won't pay you."

These words stung.

Then suddenly, as if on second thought, she added: "As a matter of fact, _you _are going to pay _me. _Tell that to that master of yours. And also tell him that I will never - _ever_ - ask a Fairy Tail mage for help again."

With these last words, Miss Cornelia dismissed an ashamed Lucy, returning to her house snarling something that painfully sounded like '_I'll ask Lamia Scale for help next time'. _

The Celestial mage turned around, sighing and empty-handed, and started walking back to the Guild. Not wanting to face her friends this soon, she avoided the shortcuts she would normally take with her team. Magnolia wasn't all that big, but there were a lot of little routes everywhere. It would have taken her about twenty minutes to get back if she'd had taken these routes.

It took her a whole hour.

Once in front of the doors, she hesitated to open them. She didn't want to tell these pretty bad news to the Master. On the other hand, she couldn't just stand there like an idiot all day just out of fear to disappoint.

After about five more minutes, Lucy mustered up enough courage to walk inside, hoping to go unnoticed by her guild mates. Thankfully, they were still partying. Actually, she wasn't even sure if it could be called partying anymore. After everyone's return from Edolas, including Lisanna Strauss, Makarov had thrown a big party for her and her siblings. Lucy had enjoyed it, too. But two weeks passed since then, wasn't it time to move on?

Lucy lazily dodged a random bottle that was thrown at her before making her way to the bar, where a smiling Mira was waiting. The instant the blonde sat her butt down on a chair, the bar tender started talking.

"So, Lucy? How'd it go?" The white-haired woman asked, handing her a glass of lemonade.

The Celestial mage looked at her with a sad expression, pointing towards what she had deposed in front of her. "I can't pay for that."

Immediately, Mira took away the glass and turned around, making the blonde's heart drop in her stomach. Just as suddenly, the take-over mage slammed a bottle of whisky in front of her with a small glass. "On the house."

Lucy couldn't help but smile at how nice the woman was. "Thanks a lot, Mira."

The woman nodded, but pressed the matter further, "What happened?"

After her second shot, she told everything to the bartender who was listening with great interest to what she was saying. "Then, she told me I was a sad excuse for a mage and dismissed me." Lucy finished, downing her third glass.

Mira frowned. "Fairy Tail won't have any more business with that woman."

"Oh, she said that too." Lucy said, looking down at her empty glass. She winced when Mira's fist slammed down on the counter, nearly making the bottle fall down in the process. That woman was strong, alright.

"She had no right to treat you that way. You are most certainly not a _sad excuse for a mage_, Lucy," She spoke, air-quoting the last part of her sentence, "how dare she insult a member of Fairy Tail."

Well, that didn't go as Lucy had expected. She'd thought that they'd be disappointed at her, not angry at Miss Cornelia.

She wasn't complaining, though. "Thank y-"

"I'm reporting this to the Master right away." Mira declared, instantly walking off to where Lucy wasn't allowed to go. She flinched when she remembered the punch Master gave Natsu after he tried to go upstairs, where the S-class missions were. Not exactly something she'd want to experience.

The weight of worry finally off her chest, she turned around in her seat to get a good look at her guild mates. She felt an odd disappointment once she realized that her pink-haired best friend was missing.

Well, _not missing, just_ not _there. _

"Good evening, Lu-chan." Her blue-haired friend greeted, her red glasses on the bridge of her nose, taking a seat next to her by the bar.

Lucy smiled at her. "Hey, Levy. 'Sup?" She asked, quite interested in what she had to say.

The fact that Levy had brought her hair up in a tight ponytail and that she was wearing her glasses meant business. She was up to something, she just knew it.

"Well, there's this job Team Shadow Gear would like to do, but we're not really sure if we're up for the task. So I-" She was cut short by Droy's loud whine. "Are we leaving soon, Levy?"

Levy sighed. "We're absolutely _not _leaving during the night."

They looked like they were going to argue, but apparently decided against it. Lucy smiled at how much they trusted their leader. She turned back towards her friend. "You were saying?"

"So I don't know if it's a good idea." Levy finished, looking down at her hands in her lap.

Lucy frowned slightly. "Why wouldn't you be up to the task?"

"We don't know what we're supposed to do and well, brute strength isn't exactly our forte, you know? I'm just worried." Levy explained, looking over at her friends who were drinking at a table near Cana. Bad idea, probably.

"I'm sure you'll nail this without-" Lucy started to say, but the bluenette caught her off.

"What about you? How'd your day go?" She wondered, changing her expression from worried to happy and excited.

The blonde's sigh explained everything. "Woaw, that bad? You went on a mission, right?"

She nodded. "One of Miss Cornelia's jobs?"

Another nod.

"Did Natsu break anything?" Levy asked, rolling her eyes in amusement.

Lucy let her head fall onto the counter with a loud thud. Her friend watched in stupor as her friend kept her forehead glued to the piece of furniture. "Lu-chan, is everything alright?"

"Solo missions are sometimes tough." Mira commented out of nowhere, smiling brightly at Lucy, trying to cheer the girl up,

Levy's eyebrows shot up. "Solo mission?"

Mira told the story to the bookworm, sensing that the blonde obviously didn't want to talk about it again. When she finished, Lucy decided to face the girls. "Worst decision ever."

On second thought, she added, "I'm asking Natsu to go on whatever dangerous mission he wants once I see him."

Mira laughed nervously, making both the girls's attention snap to her. "Why are you laughing, Mira?"

"Well, you won't be seeing Natsu in a while, actually." She said, hoping not to upset the girl sitting in front of her. "He's out on a job with Happy and Lisanna."

These words stung, too.

"How long is 'a while'?" Levy asked before the blonde could even think of asking. "Not that long, right?"

Mira shook her head. "No, of course not. About a week, they said."

Lucy's eyes widened. One whole week. That was a pretty long time. What would they be doing for such a long time? "What kind of job?"

"Something about a big monster near Crocus." The white-haired woman answered, nodding thoughtfully.

Lucy looked down at her legs, where her hands were entwined, trying to stop herself from overthinking things. She pinched the skin between her thumb and her forefinger, hoping the slight pain would help. All it did was hurt like hell.

'What am I going to do? With Natsu gone for a whole _fucking _week, I'll never be able to get the rent money I need for Saturday. Wait, Saturday. That's in -' Lucy thought, starting to panick.

Levy touched her shoulder. "You okay, Lu-chan?"

- three days.

And she was fucked again.

"No, I'm not! I'm supposed to get 50,000 jewels in three days? Without Natsu!" Lucy shrieked, kind of thankful people were too drunk to notice her outburst.

Mirajane frowned slightly. "50,000? Don't you usually have to pay about 70,000 jewels?"

"I prepared for this kind of thing, you know? I always put some money to the side to be sure to have enough every month. But, to be honest, I never thought I'd be _this-"_

"Screwed?" Asked Cana, who had apparently decided to come hang around the girls.

Lucy let her head slam against the counter again. "Precisely."

She heard the brunette chuckle, then gulp something that was most probably booze. Trying to get the Celestial mage out of her depressed state, the women started to gossip about things she would normally care about. Naturally, all she care about was her rent at the moment.

And maybe also the fact that her best friend left without telling her.

Lucy bit her lip in frustration, not knowing how to feel about the whole thing. It's not that she was worried about him or anything close to that, given the fact that they'd faced way more dangerous creature that a stupid monster. No, it wasn't that.

It bothered her that it was her fault.

When he'd asked her to go with him on a mission, she'd said 'no'. She had chosen to go on a mission on her own, instead of going with Natsu. Now he was probably already at destination, taking in their surroundings and-

'_Wait. One week. Where are they gonna stay?'_

- and finding a place to sleep.

Lucy wasn't fucked. She fucked up.

There was a difference.

She heard someone curse to the right. "Hey, Lu-chan! Stop banging your head on there!" Levy warned, pointing to the counter in front of her.

The blonde frowned. "I didn't bang it aga-"

'_Shit, my head.' _

Indeed, she had.

"God, you're weird." Cana slurred, downing her drink like the alcoholic she was.

" - _Cana_ - " Mira scowled, shaking her head slightly.

Lucy scoffed. "Says the girl doing-"

" - _Lucy _- " The take-over mage gasped, glaring at her blonde friend.

Cana opened her mouth to reply, letting a bit of beer flow down her chin to her collarbone, before Levy eventually butted in. "Girls, shut up," The bluenette ordered, earning a scowl from the drunk one and a sigh from the depressed one, "We have to focus on the problem at hand."

"Which is?" Cana asked, rolling her eyes.

Levy's stare hardened. "Lucy's rent money."

The brunette burst out laughing. Like, really. It took her a full minute to stop. "H-How is that a problem? Just ask-" Cana managed through giggles, but eventually started to laugh again.

Mira smiled. "Natsu is out on a mission, Cana. He cannot accompany her."

Cana stopped abruptly. "Say _what_? He's on a job? Without _her?" _

The white-haired mage nodded.

"Holy shit, I thought that was impossible." Cana revealed, her eyes widening.

Lucy nearly let her head fall back down again when she felt Levy's hand on her forehead. "Don't you dare."

She didn't.

"Well then, Lucy," Cana exclaimed, holding up her hands, "just ask Gray and Erza, they're right there."

Brown eyes followed the drunk's finger, her hopes getting up as she noticed the two mages talking around a table. Erza was peacefully eating her cake, looking dreamily at it, while Gray made wild gestures with his hands. Lucy figured that he'd just noticed his naked-ness. Again.

'Thank God' The blonde thought, a smile slowly tracing her lips.

She was about to get up when the Guild's main doors burst open with a loud 'bang'. Nearly everyone stopped doing what they were doing, all of them trying to get a glimpse at what was happening. She frowned when she didn't recognize the person standing there.

"A message for Fairy Tail." The boy announced, shouting like his life depended on it.

Slightly annoyed, one member said. "Well, get on with it kid."

The boy cleared his throat before starting to read the message. "To the members of Fairy Tail,"

Nearly everyone gasped when they realized that the voice sounder exactly like Lisanna's.

"We underestimated the danger, so we're asking your assistance. But only three people may come because of one of the man's rules. He's the one that asked for the help, by the way. After consulting with Natsu and Happy, we decided to ask Erza-"

Titania stood up immediately, starting to walk towards the doors to get ready, even before the letter was finnished.

" - Gray - " The boy slammed his hand on the table before following the red-head out.

Lucy started to move, too, not wanting to hold them back while packing. She needed to be fast if she wanted to help them. What if they were in danger? What if one of them was already injured? What if Natsu-

" - and Juvia." The boy said, before immediately walking out, closely followed by Juvia.

Lucy's eyes widened.

They hadn't wanted her to come?

_'Natsu doesn't want me to come.' _

The blonde felt her head starting to hurt as dozens of eyes settled on her. They seemed just as surprised as she was. She could hear all the whispers. Some of them saying "Why not Lucy?" or "Did they fight?" and even "Why did they choose Juvia and not her?"

They didn't replace her with the water mage.

They replaced her with Lisanna.

Lucy had fucked up.

_**Author's note:**_

**Hi guys! **

**This is my very first Fairy Tail Fanfiction, and believe me, I'm nervous. I know where I'm going with this, so just so you know, this story is a NaLu. I ship them to heaven and back and can't really picture them with others, although I respect the people who do. Also, this is not a 'Lisanna hate' kind of thing. I don't see why people dislike her so much. I mean, sure, in most NaLu fanfictions she's a total bitch, but in the anime? She's super nice. I don't get it. Whatever. **

**Anyway, tell me if you like it. I'd like to know if it's an okay story or not. **

**Thank you for reading, by the way. **

**Lots of love, the author. ('Cause that sounds cool)**


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